22 February 2019

Sunday will see live music for the first time ever at City Pharmacy, as Atlanta band, Coyote Anyway, will be headlining CP's first-ever Sunday Social. Things start up at 5PM & tickets are $25 per patron. You can learn more at the event page.

We are very excited to announce our first 'Sunday Social' at City Pharmacy happening on Sunday, February 24th! Our hope is that the social will allow us to come together as a community to enjoy live music & food while raising awareness about local organizations or causes close to our hearts.

You'll be treated with music from Coyote Anyway from Atlanta, GA, playing originals as well as their take on early American Roots music such as Bo Diddley, Rolling Stones, JJ Cale, Roger Miller, Grateful Dead, Blaze Foley, & Taj Mahal to name a few.

Tickets include admission, food, & 1 raffle ticket. Our friends at Ridge Avenue are organizing a raffle for the night with prizes from local businesses. Several businesses have already contributed prizes that we'll be announcing in the weeks ahead. If your business would like to donate to the raffle, please contact Amanda Shivers at Alcovyfarms@gmail.com.

The proceeds from this month's Sunday Social will go to the Chance Cown Cancer Recovery Fund. Chance is a member of the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department. He and his wife Megan (a school teacher in Oconee County, GA. ) are raising two young children ages 3 and 1.

In order to get the "real story," I decided to reach out to City Pharmacy Proprietor, Tedo Stone.

Our conversation follows.

Where did the idea for a “Sunday Social” come from?

It was a combination of ideas we’d thrown around over the last few months.

I’d made friends with a lot of super talented folks through playing music in Athens/Atlanta & beyond over the years. We’d talked about ways of hosting some of those bands in the space, but didn’t feel it would fit our typical nights at City Pharmacy given the layout and size.

We threw our one year anniversary party back in December & had our friends Cicada Rhythm play. We transformed the space to allow more standing room with food stations & passed apps. It was really cool being able to offer a different experience in the restaurant and see folks from the community come together while enjoying a band we love that had never played in Covington.

We’d also talked about hosting community suppers to raise money and awareness for different organizations or causes that are important to us. After the one year anniversary party, the idea for the Sunday Social came together to combine these two ideas into one event to take place the last Sunday of every month.

Proceeds from the first social benefits the “Chance Cown Cancer Recovery Fund." How did you decide on this cause? Chance and I grew up together and he has recently been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, Atypical Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

Chance is married with two children and will be faced with medical expenses, as well as having to take time away from working with the Atlanta Fire Department for recovery. When I found out about his diagnosis we spoke with our friends Amanda & Devin Shivers, owners of Ridge Avenue across the square, to figure out a way we could help. We’d all attended grade school from kindergarten through high school.

With the idea of the Sunday Social starting to take shape, we decided to take the proceeds from this first event to donate to the Cown family. Amanda and Devin have put together a lot of prizes donated from local businesses that we’ll be raffling off on Sunday to help raise addition money for the family. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase the day of the event.

What’s your hope for future “Sunday Social” endeavors at City Pharmacy?Our hope is that it becomes a standing tradition at CP and something the community can look forward to every month. We’d like to continue to bring in more great touring artists and bands to Covington, while partnering with local organizations and causes to raise awareness of their importance and needs.

Very cool. Now, let's talk about that music...Coyote Anyway is an Atlanta based Roots Rock band that's been making a name for themselves with their unique blend of Country, Americana, Rock & Blues. I got a chance to ask bandmember Matthew Pendrick a few questions:

What was a defining moment that made you choose music as a pathway through life?

Some of us were born into it i guess. Zeke and Matt (bass and drums) really grew up in musical families. Zeke's family ran the Shoal Creek Music Park in Lavonia GA where his parents played music and held concerts at a historic music park that had hosted everyone from Dolly Parton to Porter Wagoner. Matt's family also had a band.

For me, i think reconnecting with my childhood friend Dave Kirslis (guitar and vox) over music while we were in high school was a real turning point. I don't think either of us were considering music as a career, but we really propelled each other into starting bands and playing shows. Seems like we've just been stumbling up the mountain ever since.

You all were raised here in Ga, how has southern culture influenced your music?

I'm sure Zeke and Matt G got a great education in southern music by virtue of their families and surroundings. David and I dove real deep into the Atlanta music scene and have been greatly inspired by the local folks. Atlanta has a deep musical history that doesn't get talked about a lot, but the culture is still thriving. The city is a very diverse and vital place and i think that inspired a kind of anything goes ethos in me that i cherish. We love older and more traditional music but i also don't think any of of us feel bound to those conventions and i think thats keeps things interesting.

Do you feel “the arts” receive adequate support from local communities?

Sure, i know Everyone loves music and i think we're starting to rediscover how to cultivate that culture and make sure that we're taking care of it for the future. The internet changed everything for better or worse. Making a living as an artist is tricky today, but it always has been. What I'd like to see happen is for people to take a deeper look into how to support artists, particularly on a more local scale. Similar to the movement to more sustainable eating, we have to create and support music on a local scale if we want to see it thrive in the future. It's great to see lots of smaller communities bringing live music back into the public spaces and using music as a way to bring people together.

What are you spinning?

Everything! Dave and i just went to see reggae legend Lee Scratch Perry but before that we were listening to one of my new favorite records by folk singer Greg Brown (The Iowa Waltz) . I've been listening to lot of african guitar music like King Sunny Ade and a great ambient series that Zeke hipped me to by an artist called The Caretaker, which is inspired by the way that the memory erodes with Alzheimer's disease.

This should really be a great event. Hope to see you there.

- Melissa Morgan Parker

TPC is very proud to have the talents of Melissa Morgan Parker as a Correspondent, Stringer & Contributing Writer. A multi-generational Newtonian, Mrs. Parker is a Mom, Wife, Music Lover, Artist Extraordinaire & Educator who very deeply cares about all & everyone that is the Glorious Georgia Piedmont.

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